La Jolla's 1894 Red Rest cottage faces demolition under a proposal now moving through San Diego's permitting process.

The fire-damaged structure still holds landmark status at the city, state and federal levels. The Red Rest and Red Roost cottages at 1187 and 1179 Coast Blvd., overlooking La Jolla Cove, are believed to be the oldest surviving wood-framed structures in La Jolla Village. Both have been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1976 and carry local Historic Resources Board designation #101, granted in January 1975.

The proposal from owner Cove Properties LLC would demolish Red Rest and reroof and secure Red Roost. No occupancy or interior work is planned for either building, Times of San Diego reported.

Red Rest was badly damaged in an October 2020 fire whose cause investigators ruled undetermined. The city determined the cottage had effectively been lost as a historic asset and exempted the scaled-back project from further environmental review.

The La Jolla Historical Society appealed that decision in June 2026, arguing that removing Red Rest would damage the integrity of the La Jolla Park Coastal Historic District. That 8-acre coastal district was added to the National Register in 2024 with 35 contributing resources. Federal authorities acknowledged the fire damage and still counted Red Rest among them.

The San Diego Community Planners Committee voted 22-2 to back the appeal. In an Aug. 28 letter to San Diego City Council President Joe LaCava and the full council, committee Chair Victoria LaBruzzo wrote that the panel acted because of the case's potential citywide implications for all designated historic resources and districts.

LaBruzzo noted the city issued a Notice of Violation on the property in 2002 for failing to maintain the structures. That was nearly two decades before the fire. Her letter said the city never meaningfully evaluated preservation alternatives such as stabilization, rehabilitation or reconstruction with salvaged materials.

La Jolla Community Planning Association President Lisa Kriedeman said "the city was throwing in the towel. They're saying demo it, and there's nothing else historically relevant about this."

Preservation architect Dr. Diane Kane, a former staff member of the San Diego Historical Resources Board, told the Community Planners Committee on Aug. 25 that the city bypassed required historical resource review. Kane said a city ordinance requiring historically designated properties to be maintained in a "readily occupied state" went unenforced for 50 years.

City spokesman Peter Kelly said in July 2026 that a Historic Structures Report found Red Roost retained much of its historic material and could be secured for future restoration. Red Rest, Kelly said, suffered near-total loss of historic material in the fire.

Senior Public Information Officer Richard Berg confirmed the project's scope changed on April 29, 2025, when the applicant withdrew a four-story, eight-unit condominium from an earlier 2022 proposal.

Eduardo Podolsky, representing the ownership group, said the two cottages are in very different physical condition and that the group is prioritizing what can be done to care for Red Roost.

La Jolla Historical Society President Laura DuCharme Conboy said the current owner knew the cottages' protected status at purchase. An earlier 2022 plan would have relocated both cottages while preserving their character, she said.

LaCava's office has not publicly responded to the appeal. No hearing date has been set.